Calvary Lutheran Church pastor Kristen Larsen-Schmidt this late fall brought us to April with a Garrison Keillor story "Aprille," which capitalizes on the following, the very beginning of the prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
At yesterday's session of Literary Lunches, Larsen-Schmidt read this story, one of transformation of a young woman Lois approaching confirmation with some doubt about her beliefs. Kristen-Schmidt spoke of the story's subject as "trying to get a fix on something you think is permanent..." adding "it's hard to figure out who we are..." after events in our lives.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Reading surprising work
What followed the reading was a discussion about what's true and what's now as well as how perception has an impact on our realities.
Porter relayed her views on reading and literacy, something shaped by her experience as a social studies teacher. "In order to be a good citizen you have to be able to read and think...," she said.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Vocabgrabber reprise
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Local reader reads area writer
Though Gary Malm is no longer in school, he's done some homework recently.. The homework? Finding the right piece to read at Grand Forks Central's Literary Lunches.
And at yesterday's session of Literary Lunches he read from Gary Paulsen's Soldier's Heart, the story of Charley Goddard, a fifteen-year-old, one of the first Minnesota volunteers during the Civil War. Malm, a retired teacher and current Grand Forks County county commissioner, found the book on a list of the best read-alouds for kids.
He not only read from the novel, he read about Paulsen, a Thief River Falls native. Malm recounted what Paulsen said of the librarian in his home town: "When she handed me a library card, she handed me the world."
Malm himself is an avid reader. "I read all over the place, " he said. "I have four [books] going right now."
And if you're interested in finding out what Civil War battles really looked like, (in their original, uncommercialized state) Malm suggested you go to Tennessee to see a reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh where it took place.
And at yesterday's session of Literary Lunches he read from Gary Paulsen's Soldier's Heart, the story of Charley Goddard, a fifteen-year-old, one of the first Minnesota volunteers during the Civil War. Malm, a retired teacher and current Grand Forks County county commissioner, found the book on a list of the best read-alouds for kids.
Malm himself is an avid reader. "I read all over the place, " he said. "I have four [books] going right now."
And if you're interested in finding out what Civil War battles really looked like, (in their original, uncommercialized state) Malm suggested you go to Tennessee to see a reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh where it took place.
Monday, October 25, 2010
How do people learn?
How People Learn focuses on thinking and learning, in particular how experts engage in those activities. To read the book online, click the icon above.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Kids rate books
Here are the top 10 books that thousands of teenagers picked as their favorites for 2010, released today as part of Teen Read Week.
The celebration of reading by teenagers this week is an annual initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association that was started in 1998. Libraries around the world celebrate the week with events and programs aimed at encouraging teens to please for pleasure.
Teens’ Top Ten is a list created by kids ages 12 to 18, who nominate and then vote on their favorite books of the previous year. More than 8,000 kids voted this year on the following. (from the Answer Sheet)
Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire is number one on the list.
Teen Read Week runs from October 17-23, 2010.
Teens’ Top Ten is a list created by kids ages 12 to 18, who nominate and then vote on their favorite books of the previous year. More than 8,000 kids voted this year on the following. (from the Answer Sheet)
Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire is number one on the list.
Teen Read Week runs from October 17-23, 2010.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Book it
Recently, book publishers got some good news. Researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books (of their own choosing) to take home at the end of the school year. They did this for three successive years.
Then the researchers, led by Richard Allington of the University of Tennessee, looked at those students’ test scores. They found that the students who brought the books home had significantly higher reading scores than other students. These students were less affected by the “summer slide” — the decline that especially afflicts lower-income students during the vacation months. In fact, just having those 12 books seemed to have as much positive effect as attending summer school. (David Brooks at NYT)
A culture of books and reading helps kids read better. To learn more, click on the hyperlinked text above.
Then the researchers, led by Richard Allington of the University of Tennessee, looked at those students’ test scores. They found that the students who brought the books home had significantly higher reading scores than other students. These students were less affected by the “summer slide” — the decline that especially afflicts lower-income students during the vacation months. In fact, just having those 12 books seemed to have as much positive effect as attending summer school. (David Brooks at NYT)
A culture of books and reading helps kids read better. To learn more, click on the hyperlinked text above.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The power of reading and writing
BROCKTON, Mass. — A decade ago, Brockton High School was a case study in failure. Teachers and administrators often voiced the unofficial school motto in hallway chitchat: students have a right to fail if they want. And many of them did — only a quarter of the students passed statewide exams. One in three dropped out.
Then Susan Szachowicz and a handful of fellow teachers decided to take action. They persuaded administrators to let them organize a schoolwide campaign that involved reading and writing lessons into every class in all subjects, including gym. (Sam Dillon at NYT)
Click the text above to learn the degree to which reading and writing across the curriculum had an impact on Brockton High School.
Then Susan Szachowicz and a handful of fellow teachers decided to take action. They persuaded administrators to let them organize a schoolwide campaign that involved reading and writing lessons into every class in all subjects, including gym. (Sam Dillon at NYT)
Click the text above to learn the degree to which reading and writing across the curriculum had an impact on Brockton High School.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wow---widgets and poetry
Wolfram Alpha is a computational search engine. Click here to go to the site. Wolfram Alpha now has a host of widgets that can be embedded on a blog or website.The widgets below are related to vocabulary, but there are many more. Click here to visit the widget gallery.
The original source for this information is Free Technology for Teachers
Yesterday reader at literary lunches was local poet and author Barbara Crow. She also read last week.
The original source for this information is Free Technology for Teachers
Yesterday reader at literary lunches was local poet and author Barbara Crow. She also read last week.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Award-winning author Tim O'Brien visits Grand Forks Central
Author Tim O'Brien said that writing The Things They Carried "was a challenge I set for myself," one he likened to "creating a tennis net seven feet high" for a game of tennis. He said wanted to write something that "could've actually happened," something in which the narrator is Tim O'Brien and he wanted to fiction about the Vietnam War, which he described as a "small daily bunch of horrors, one after the other."
O'Brien, Friday's celebrity reader for Literary Lunches, talked about his work, including The Things They Carried, the selection for the Greater Grand Forks Big Read. The book, a suite of stories about the Vietnam War, in which narrator Tim O'Brien shows the reader glimpses of war. Though the characters are fictional----including the narrator-- O'Brien said that the characters are as real to him as the people in his own life. "Bodies don't have to be with us to be real."
If O'Brien had known what he was getting into, he said he might not have become a writer. Still, he finds "the payoffs of doing what I do...can be enormous." He spoke of one of those pay-offs in particular, a letter he got from a young Minneapolis woman, who wrote about how her parents weren't getting along and how painful it was to live in a household with such turmoil. Then, in an advanced placement English class she read The Things They Carried, a book which she gave to her father to read. Because he soon began to open up, she wrote O'Brien to say, "Thank you for getting a family talking."
Ultimately, O'Brien said he's trying to make art, to write something that will "entrance you...keep you reading."
He also talked about the importance of reading and what students should be reading. "Whatever gets you reading is okay."
He offered advice for young writers. "You don't have to go to war to write a book. If you have lived up to the age of thirteen, you have enough material to write a novel. You have known love, disappointment, betrayal.
"Pay attention to the life you're leading, and you'll have a wealth of stories."
O'Brien spoke at UND the night before and, during Literary Lunches, reiterated sentiments he shared there. If we want to respond to post-traumatic stress syndrome, we should "stop having wars."
The Things They Carried was a finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
Local sponsors include the University of North Dakota, the North Dakota Council on the Humanities, the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area, Red River Valley Writing Project, the Chester Fritz Library, Grand Forks Public Schools, Lake Agassiz Reading Council, Alerus Financial, Frandsen Bank and Trust, Friends of the Library, WDAZ and Clear Channel Radio. Grand Forks is one of 75 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2010-June 2011.
For a calendar of Greater Grand Forks Big Read events, click here.
(Photos of Tim O'Brien courtesy of Kris Arason )
If O'Brien had known what he was getting into, he said he might not have become a writer. Still, he finds "the payoffs of doing what I do...can be enormous." He spoke of one of those pay-offs in particular, a letter he got from a young Minneapolis woman, who wrote about how her parents weren't getting along and how painful it was to live in a household with such turmoil. Then, in an advanced placement English class she read The Things They Carried, a book which she gave to her father to read. Because he soon began to open up, she wrote O'Brien to say, "Thank you for getting a family talking."
He also talked about the importance of reading and what students should be reading. "Whatever gets you reading is okay."
He offered advice for young writers. "You don't have to go to war to write a book. If you have lived up to the age of thirteen, you have enough material to write a novel. You have known love, disappointment, betrayal.
"Pay attention to the life you're leading, and you'll have a wealth of stories."
O'Brien spoke at UND the night before and, during Literary Lunches, reiterated sentiments he shared there. If we want to respond to post-traumatic stress syndrome, we should "stop having wars."
The Things They Carried was a finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
Local sponsors include the University of North Dakota, the North Dakota Council on the Humanities, the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Area, Red River Valley Writing Project, the Chester Fritz Library, Grand Forks Public Schools, Lake Agassiz Reading Council, Alerus Financial, Frandsen Bank and Trust, Friends of the Library, WDAZ and Clear Channel Radio. Grand Forks is one of 75 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2010-June 2011.
For a calendar of Greater Grand Forks Big Read events, click here.
(Photos of Tim O'Brien courtesy of Kris Arason )
Friday, October 15, 2010
Get ready to write
The National Day on Writing is October 20, 2010. Click on the hyperlinked text below to learn more and even contribute your writing.
9/29/10: Senate passed RES.668 "expressing support for the designation of October 20, 2010, as the "National Day on Writing!"
Get Ready for the 2nd National Day on Writing, October 20, 2010!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Ways to keep up with The Big Read
The Greater Grand Forks Big Read now has a blog, which makes it easy to keep up with what's going on. Click here to visit the blog.
On the Rainy River is one the pieces in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. The story chronicles how the narrator, also named Tim O'Brien, toys with fleeing to Canada to avoid war. He makes his decision on the Rainy River. (O'Brien's The Things They Carried is the book selection for the Greater Grand Forks Big Read)
The Prezi below illustrates not only what the story is about but also just what a Prezi can do. And it also shows the kinds of resources teachers and students can create about what they study.
On the Rainy River is one the pieces in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. The story chronicles how the narrator, also named Tim O'Brien, toys with fleeing to Canada to avoid war. He makes his decision on the Rainy River. (O'Brien's The Things They Carried is the book selection for the Greater Grand Forks Big Read)
The Prezi below illustrates not only what the story is about but also just what a Prezi can do. And it also shows the kinds of resources teachers and students can create about what they study.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A game-changer......a pretty amazing vocabulary resource
If you're looking for a rich vocabulary website, one with games and graphic organizers and links to word lists, vocabulary.com is the place to go. There is enough to keep a reader busy for a while, maybe even a fortnight ;)
One of the best parts of the site is the search function. Simply type in a word and see what happens. Take a look at the result when the word "love" is typed in the search box.
The site also features a host of resources including VocabGrabber, something that's better experienced than explained. Click here to see what VocabGrabber does with the Bill of Rights. And you can add VocabGrabber to your browser toolbar, so you can use it on a webpage.
To create a word list at VocabGrabber, you must have an account; the account is not free. Still the free option is good.....actually, it's kind of amazing.
One of the best parts of the site is the search function. Simply type in a word and see what happens. Take a look at the result when the word "love" is typed in the search box.
The site also features a host of resources including VocabGrabber, something that's better experienced than explained. Click here to see what VocabGrabber does with the Bill of Rights. And you can add VocabGrabber to your browser toolbar, so you can use it on a webpage.
To create a word list at VocabGrabber, you must have an account; the account is not free. Still the free option is good.....actually, it's kind of amazing.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Speaking of poems
Award-winning local poet Barbara Crow said of a great poem, "It speaks to me."
At yesterday's session of Literary Lunches, Crow spoke, through poetry, of the death of her son, one of the main themes of her collection Coming up for Light and Air, a Minnesota Voices Project winner. Among the poems she read from the collection was "The Race," her imagining of taking her son's body from the funeral home out into the world where he comes to life again.
Crow read poems from others, including poems from Joseph Shroud's Below Cold Mountain. Here is one of those poems:
The First Law of Thermodynamics.
He was a good ole boy, and when he died his friends carried out
his final wish–the body was cremated and the ashes stuffed into shotgun shells. They walked through the woods he loved and fired aimlessly into the trees–he came down everywhere in a powdery rain, a pollen of ashes that once was the memory of a boy walking under trees showering him with leaves.
Crow also read work by Philip Booth and recommends poets Tess Gallagher, Ted Koozer and Jane Kenyon. In addition to being a poet and writer, Crow, a native of New Zealand, is a commentator for Prairie Public Radio.
At yesterday's session of Literary Lunches, Crow spoke, through poetry, of the death of her son, one of the main themes of her collection Coming up for Light and Air, a Minnesota Voices Project winner. Among the poems she read from the collection was "The Race," her imagining of taking her son's body from the funeral home out into the world where he comes to life again.
The First Law of Thermodynamics.
He was a good ole boy, and when he died his friends carried out
his final wish–the body was cremated and the ashes stuffed into shotgun shells. They walked through the woods he loved and fired aimlessly into the trees–he came down everywhere in a powdery rain, a pollen of ashes that once was the memory of a boy walking under trees showering him with leaves.
Crow also read work by Philip Booth and recommends poets Tess Gallagher, Ted Koozer and Jane Kenyon. In addition to being a poet and writer, Crow, a native of New Zealand, is a commentator for Prairie Public Radio.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
The Reading Rockets website includes materials for parents, teachers and administrators. Materials include research, book lists, teaching strategies, videos and podcasts....The site is teeming with resources.
And if that weren't enough, Reading Rockets has widgets, like the one below.
The Reading Rockets website includes materials for parents, teachers and administrators. Materials include research, book lists, teaching strategies, videos and podcasts....The site is teeming with resources.
And if that weren't enough, Reading Rockets has widgets, like the one below.
Friday, October 8, 2010
What is wealth?
Marty Martinson, the main character in VJ Smith's The Richest Man in the World is an unlikely hero. He worked at Wal-mart in Brookings, South Dakota. He greeted customers and engaged them in conversation when they were in his check-out line. But Martinson made an impression on Smith, and he made an impression on Grand Forks Public Schools activities director Todd Olson, yesterday's reader during Literary Lunches. It is from this non-fiction book that Olson read.
Olson read an excerpt explaining how Smith and Martinson met and how Martinson's engaging personality got Smith to write a letter to the head of Wal-Mart. Instead of offering up perfunctory greetings to his customers, Martinson talked with his customers and listened to what they said. The excerpt not only showcased Smith and Martinson but also the connections Olson shared during his reading...the kind of connections skilled readers make with ease.
Olson was a basketball coach for 12 years, a math teacher for 14.
Olson was a basketball coach for 12 years, a math teacher for 14.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
A picture is worth a thousand words or so...
Free Technology for Teachers is a terrific blog for learning about online resources. Take a look at Snappy Words, a free online visual dictionary and thesaurus, profiled in a post at Free Technology for Teachers.
And if you're interested in visual dictionaries and thesauri (or is it thesauruses?) take a look at Visuwords.
Snappy Words and Visuwords both do really cool stuff with words. Try them out; the results will speak volumes...almost literally.
And if you're interested in visual dictionaries and thesauri (or is it thesauruses?) take a look at Visuwords.
Snappy Words and Visuwords both do really cool stuff with words. Try them out; the results will speak volumes...almost literally.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Professional philosopher in da house
"The choice to have an active mind is yours," UND philosophy professor Jack Weinstein told yesterday's Literacy Lunches audience.
What he read illustrate what an active mind considers. He read The Basho of Honk, a Nick Paumgarten New Yorker piece about turning responses to NYC's annoying car honking into short poems. Weinstein also read a Jacob Neusner speech from William Safire's Lend Me Your Years: Great Speeches in History. In Professor Jacob Neusner Defines the Social Contract Between Teacher and Student, Neusner argues that "Great teachers don't teach; they help students learn." In other words, great teaching is about getting people to think.
Weinstein, a native of New York City, is the director of the Institute for Philosophy in the Public Life.
Weinstein, a native of New York City, is the director of the Institute for Philosophy in the Public Life.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A keeper of books
It wasn't just books and reading yesterday when Wendy Wendt direct or the Grand Forks Public Library spoke during Literary Lunches. She offered encouragement and advice to students.
"As you're thinking about your careers, think about what you really like to do," she said. Wendt liked to read as a child but never thought anyone could work in a library, something she now does and loves.
Wendt read from The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, an author perhaps best known for Freak the Mighty.
And Wendt highlighted upcoming events such as The Big Read with an appearance by Tim O'Brien and a discussion with Lois Lowry about her book Crow Call. Students might be familiar with Lowry because of her book The Giver.
Take a look below at the scheduled events:
Great Conversation withTim O'Brien
Award-winning author, Tim O'Brien, will be appearing in Grand Forks to discuss his book, "The Things They Carried"
Event Location: Chester Fritz Auditorium, Grand Forks, ND 58201-6324
Book: The Things They Carried
Event Location: 2110 Library Circle, Grand Forks, ND 58201-6324
Book: The Things They Carried
"As you're thinking about your careers, think about what you really like to do," she said. Wendt liked to read as a child but never thought anyone could work in a library, something she now does and loves.
And Wendt highlighted upcoming events such as The Big Read with an appearance by Tim O'Brien and a discussion with Lois Lowry about her book Crow Call. Students might be familiar with Lowry because of her book The Giver.
Take a look below at the scheduled events:
Great Conversation withTim O'Brien
Award-winning author, Tim O'Brien, will be appearing in Grand Forks to discuss his book, "The Things They Carried"
Event Location: Chester Fritz Auditorium, Grand Forks, ND 58201-6324
Book: The Things They Carried
Kids' Big Read Book Discussion of "Crow Call" by Lois Lowry
Story time for children of all ages. Features "Crow Call" by Lois Lowry, the story of a young girl who is reunited with her father after he has been away on military service for an extended time.Event Location: 2110 Library Circle, Grand Forks, ND 58201-6324
Book: The Things They Carried
Monday, October 4, 2010
Looking at other worlds
Free Technology for Teachers continues to be an amazing resources for Web 2.0 tools for teachers. Take a look at the hyperlinked text below.
Show World is an interactive mapping website that takes demographic, economic, environmental, and political data sets and creates maps based on those data. This can be done with Google Earth and Google Maps before, but Show World is slightly different.
Click here to look at Show World. (It does take a bit for the page to load). Click here to hang out at Free Technology for Teachers.
The maps at Show World could help students gain background knowledge before they read about a particular country or countries.
Show World is an interactive mapping website that takes demographic, economic, environmental, and political data sets and creates maps based on those data. This can be done with Google Earth and Google Maps before, but Show World is slightly different.
Click here to look at Show World. (It does take a bit for the page to load). Click here to hang out at Free Technology for Teachers.
The maps at Show World could help students gain background knowledge before they read about a particular country or countries.
Friday, October 1, 2010
A glimpse at our professional development
The professional development was planned by the Grand Forks Central Literacy Committee.
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